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Cenla sees scholarship semifinalists

Holy Savior Menard Central High School senior Taylor “T.J.” Mathews is a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. He plans to pursue a degree in computer science at a Louisiana university next fall.(Photo: Leigh Guidry/The Town Talk)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in Cenla:• Nketiah Berko, Bolton High School in Alexandria• David Canada, Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches• Miriam Crain, homeschooled at Fort Polk• Lacy Hines, LSMSA in Natchitoches• Taylor Mathews, Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Alexandria• Garren Mitchell, LSMSA in Natchitoches• Timothy Shertzer, LSMSA in Natchitoches

Central Louisiana has seven semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship, and two are Alexandria students.

Nketiah Berko of Bolton High School and Taylor “T.J.” Mathews of Holy Savior Menard Central High School are among more than 200 Louisiana seniors to reach this point in the process.

It started with high scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2014. Both also qualified with high scores on the SAT college entrance exam. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying PSAT, according to the program.

T.J.’s score of 220 out of 240 on the PSAT his junior year put him in the running to become a semifinalist. The practice exam is required for juniors at Menard, but he also saw it as a good opportunity. In May, he took the SAT and scored a 2000 out of 2400.

Nketiah — whom everyone knows as “Ink,” the first syllable of his name — scored a 212 on the PSAT and 2180 on the SAT. He plans to take the test again in October.

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Bolton High senior Nketiah Berko is a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. He moves on to the next round and will be notified in February if he is a finalist.(Photo: Leigh Guidry/The Town Talk)

He is 16 and a senior at Bolton High, where he’s been since his freshman year. His parents are from Ghana, where he spent his fifth-grade year, and they have lived in Alexandria since 2011.

They were two of about 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools who entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2014 PSAT, according to the program. The pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

Both students have seen success with other standardized tests, too.

T.J. scored one point below a perfect score on the ACT, another college entrance exam that is required for admission to Louisiana universities. He took it as a sophomore, a year earlier than most students, and scored a 35. Nketiah was two points away from perfect with a 34.

They move forward with the application process in the hopes of becoming finalists. From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. Finalists will be notified in February.

The students and their high schools now must submit a detailed scholarship application including information about their academic records, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.

T.J., 17, and Nketiah have plenty of accolades and activities to fill their applications. T.J. plays basketball for Menard and participates in several clubs. Nketiah is a soccer player and student body president at Bolton and participates in debate and other clubs.

As seniors, both are thinking about graduation and applying to colleges. T.J. has his sights set on Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge or Louisiana Tech University in Ruston for college. He plans to study computer science.

“I want to stay close to home,” he said. “And Louisiana Tech has a really good program. And I’ve always wanted to go to LSU since I was a kid. ... I’ve always been interested in computer science, and it seems like the forefront of all industries. It pays well and there’s very high job security.”

But he does plans to branch out a little if he becomes a National Merit Scholarship finalist.

“I’ll probably apply to MIT because it’s the top engineering school in the country, and it would be cool to say I got in,” he said.

T.J. is the son of John and Brenda Mathews of Alexandria. He has been at Menard since seventh grade and attended Our Lady of Prompt Succor School and St. Frances Cabrini Elementary School as a child.

“Here (at Menard) I can take honors classes, which are a grade (level) above," T.J. said. "That helped a lot, knowing the extra math and more work in English.”

Nketiah is the son of Ebenezer and Ama Berko of Alexandria. His English teacher, Nancy Monroe, encouraged him to take the PSAT, as she does all her students. It’s not required, as the student and family are responsible for the $15 test fee. Nketiah decided to go for it.

“I think he’s very deserving,” Monroe said. “He’s grown so much as a student since his freshman year.”

He was excited to find out he is a semifinalist.

“It’s an opportunity to really use this whole application process to really choose what college I want,” Nketiah said. “It’s also nice to be recognized for hard work that culminates in something.”

Four students at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts are semifinalists for a National Merit Scholarship. They are, from left, Garren Mitchell of New Orleans, David Canada of Slidell, Timothy Shertzer of Pineville and Lacey Hines of Gretna.(Photo: Courtesy)

All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the group of finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference, according to the program.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in spring 2016. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 250 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria.

About 190 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,900 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution, according to the program.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2016 will be announced in four nationwide news releases between April and July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 315,000 other Merit Scholars.

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists in Central Louisiana:

Nketiah Berko, Bolton High School in Alexandria

David Canada, Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches